Community and union-led living wage campaigns

Trade unions in Britain, as elsewhere, have faced a sustained challenge to their role and there has been extensive debate, analysis (and practical action) over the most appropriate way for the union movement to respond to these challenges (Kelly, 1998; Heery, Kelly and Waddington, 2003). At the forefront of this debate has been the notion of social movement unionism whereby unions engage with other community groups in pursuit of broader societal issues, not just workplace ones (Fairbrother and Webster 2008; Parker 2011). A unionstrategy of broader community engagement can be contrasted with more traditional forms of union activities, most particularly the pursuit of improved pay and conditions for members through industrial campaigns. Community engagement envisaged in social movement unionism and industrial campaigning are not mutually exclusive and both can take many forms.